"A very different type of space": Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Primary School in North Strathfield.Credit:BVN

Knut Menden, of architecture firm BVN, led the project – and thinks that we don't need to look abroad for innovation while some of the most interesting and ambitious schools are being designed here.

"I think a lot of schools are progressive in Australia, in terms of learning environments. All the schools we’ve been involved in are moving away from traditional classrooms."

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Originally from Germany, Mr Menden said that the vast majority of schools in his homeland are still built with the traditional classroom model and that it's mainly the Nordic countries showing progressive ideas.

"It’s quite interesting – we went all the way to Europe to look for school architecture, but the reality is that New Zealand and Australia are at the forefront of progressive school design."

The design at Our Lady of the Assumption featured cross-laminated timber. The use ofengineered timber is prevalent in Europe and North America, but it is still a relatively newconcept to the Australian construction industry.

"It’s a very different type of space to traditional schools. We had a big focus on using timber and natural materials," he said.

Mr Menden said that for a lot of traditional schools, the design doesn’t display much innovation beyond a few colours.

"For some reason, it always comes down to the carpet," he laughed.

Commended: Bellevue Hill Public School.

He said there’s a lot of blurring in ideas between educational and office architecture at the moment.

"Between the office space and educational spaces there’s a lot of common features."

Michael Mandl, a Director of GroupGSA, agreed, saying that regardless of the type of space being designed, basic functionality is paramount.

Mr Mandl and his team re-designed Bellevue Hill Public School, receiving a commendation in the field of educational architecture at the 2018 NSW Architecture Awards for their efforts.

"There’s a sense of fun about it, there’s a sense of purpose," he said."The old school has been retained and repaired, and the new sits next to it and draws very subtly from the architecture across the old from the new."

Despite his team's efforts, he was quick to dismiss a claim that the quality of learning space is equally as vital as the quality of resources or teachers inside.

"The quality of the space can only compliment a good teacher’s capabilities. It’s not to say you wouldn’t learn in a terrible environment with an inspiring teacher, you would.

"But what the learning setting does is enable different modes of teaching to happen easily for this really good teacher. So if the learning settings are hard to re-arrange, if they take too long, it’s not successful."

Flexible space: The new Senior Centre at MLC School. Credit:BVN

Lisa Moloney, principal of MLC School said likewise.

"[Buildings] don’t make kids smarter. A great teacher is going to help students learn no matter what the space … similarly, it doesn’t matter what space you give a bad teacher, they will continue to teach poorly.

"It comes down to how the space is used to meet the needs of the child. If you’re talking about academic learning outcomes, it’s very difficult to link a number with a space. But if you have a more engaged and varied approach, and therefore greater student involvement, then the learning will come."

She said the key was flexibility.

"We’ve seen an evolution in that once upon a time, you worked in a box and there was no flexibility whatsoever. And then the pendulum swung in completely the other direction, but it was just as inflexible," she said.

"What we’ve seen in recent years is a swing back a little bit, where it’s not just about having open spaces, but having flexible spaces."

MLC School's Senior Centre, also designed by BVN, opened in May, spanning four floors around a central atrium.

She mentions the glass-walled classrooms inside the building as one positive, enabling "almost a learning by osmosis process" with easy access to the observation of teachers' methods.